Decisions, decisions, decisions

I wonder if anyone remembers the good old days of the first Pokémon on the Game Boy (I was a proud owner of a Game Boy Colour, woohoo!). Mew was coveted because it was the “rarest Pokémon of all” (even though there were so many other one-of-a-kind critters to be found, meaning they’re equally rare… but I digress), and because it could learn ALL FIFTY attacks available from the Technical Machines! Gasp! *eyes grow wide in wonder* Problem was, it only had a capacity for FOUR different attacks. Oh dear. The gamers’ reverence for Mew’s wide range of choices is an accurate mirror of the general society’s desire to be able to make their own choices for everything. And I do mean everything.

I developed a new headache recently after heading down to Karrinyup Shopping Centre, hunting for information to help me choose a bank to join and to choose a mobile phone service provider. (Yes, yes, I’m finally getting a handphone. Now leave me alone!)

Phones galore. Which one to choose?

The number of options is just mind-boggling. I went home with a bagful of brochures and spent the next several hours recharting and comparing the pros and cons of opening a Bankwest Student Account with that of the ANZ Progress Saver account; and the same went into trying to decide between a Vodafone Talk&TXT Contract and an Optus $49 Cap.

Information galore

Ok, so maybe I was being finicky. Few sane people would spend hours and hours and hours poring over a collection of papers to aid them in their shopping. So why do corporations spend precious resources to bring you all this information that can’t even fit into Einstein’s brain? Why do gamers make such a huge fuss about Mew’s outstanding learning capability?

Here’s the thing: People just LOOOVE to be in control. The idea of being able to choose exactly what you want and shape your own life is extremely appealing. Thus, commercialists are presented with a wonderful opportunity to make money.

I’m not crusading against their right to make a profit. What irks me is that they TELL you that you’re in control, put lots of effort into making you feel good, but actually make it *&%#@# difficult to know what you’re getting yourself into. I'm sure everyone knows brochures have a way of providing incomplete infor and tucking away the most crucial bits in the Fine Print, so there you go.

The people who invented fine print obviously never learnt the concept of paragraphing.

Heed my warning, denizens of the mall. Let not your desire for control cloud your judgements. Forget not that your yearnings may lead you down unforseen roads.

Please excuse me now, I need to go decide what to give my Mew Bubblebeam or Flamethrower.